The world and America seem a bit off right now. People seem divided. There’s a strange contrast between over and under reaction to political conflicts. And well… I don’t really care to be honest. I’m one person and can’t do much. What I can do is take care of me and my kids and use whatever the government is extending to help people like me. This next year is shaping up to be a good one for getting into physical and financial fitness.
My top priorities are:
Paying down credit card debt.
Changing spending habits.
Homeschooling my kids with an online school’s curriculum.
Providing a healthy living environment for my kids.
Improving my family’s diet and exercise habits.
Choose career building activities over hobbies during my free time.
Priorities are not goals because they’re not specific to a particular outcome. Rather, they’re a point of focus and become one’s inner compass when making choices. Some people recommend only focusing on three priorities, instead… I have THREE generalized VALUES.
Goals should always be in alignment with priorities or they’ll cause internal and external conflicts. Here’s an example: if I want to pay off my credit card debt, I cannot waste the money on something else. Let’s say I set a goal to buy every new video game this year. When I play the games, I need certain snacks and drinks, also a new chair because the old one hurts my butt. I’ve blown my budget and extended into my available credit and the year just began.
Now, I’d have to play catch-up on my bills. Fight the uphill battle of daily compounded interest. Not to mention keep up with the new game releases… And buy a new system because the old one stopped working halfway into the year. By the end of the year, if I continued with a goal and priority in conflict, I’d end up further in debt and feel like a failure.
So what could I different?
Align my goal with a priority. It’s a dumb goal if it doesn’t fit into a priority, plain and simple.
To pay down my debt, I must set several goals to support that ambition.
- Tighten my budget and eliminate all wasteful spending. (Even when it sucks and is inconvenient.)
- Budget monthly and pay all extra money towards the debt once my bills are paid.
- All of the extra money I receive immediately goes towards the debt.
- Save a little money for emergencies and unexpected expenses.
- Create supportive lifestyle goals (home cook meals, take-out once a month only, etc.)
Will I achieve my goals? I have no idea, but I’ll get much closer if I prioritize them. So will you, well… to your own goals.
Perfectly Human 
Leave a comment